7 Tips For Including Your Dog In Your Wedding

When your pooch is part of your family, you may want to include him or her in your wedding day.

Including your pet in the wedding is not easy, but it can be done if you follow these seven tips:

1. Outdoor weddings are bestIf you're getting married on a farm, vineyard, orchard or park, your dog will have plenty of space to run around. An indoor wedding, especially at a city hotel is not wise, and probably not allowed. Where will he or she relieve him/herself? Beach weddings are a maybe - some beaches have rules banning dogs off leashes, or at all, after certain hours.

2. Make sure your pet’s personality is suitableIf they usually shy away from strangers on an everyday basis, they simply won't cope with the increased excitement and number of strangers (to them) at your wedding. Some pets can be aggressive around too many people while others could be naughty and mark their territory in the venue. Even if they're super-friendly, and know most of your guests, you also need to consider if they're likely to beg guests for food, or if they're just extra-large breeds who could knock small kids and frail guests over.

3. Discuss with the wedding plannersBefore you make it official, discuss it with the people who will be organising everything on the day itself. Can the wedding planners handle any incidents that might be caused by your pet? Humped guests? Weeing on the chairs? Running off with the cake? Eeek! If this is the case, you might want to consider other options, such as having them take part in the engagement photos or video instead.

4. Ask for permission from the venue owners Whether you hold the ceremony in the church or in the function centre, you better ask the proper authorities if pets are allowed—or if a special exception can be made just this once.

5. Get a pet-sitter Making sure the wedding planners know that the pets will be at the wedding isn’t quite enough; you have to hire somebody who will exclusively look after your pet—preferably your trusted pet-sitter. You might prefer to have your pet have a small role at the start and then get someone to take him or her home.

6. Get your pet a wedding-appropriate outfitIf you do go ahead, you can have a lot of fun with styling your pet with a mini-tuxedo, tiara, floral headpiece or whatever matches your wedding theme.

7. Get the dog's eye viewIf you have a GoPro camera and can attach it to your dog's collar or outfit, you may get some original and funny images via dog-cam.